Written before we left Calgary.....
After my recent foccacia success , I was just itching to get in the kitchen again and continue my winning bread-product-baking streak. I flipped through my handful of remaining cookbooks (most are already in BC) for a relatively easy bread or bun recipe, but came up with nothing. I checked out the Internet. Google gave me nothing. I really wanted to try Mary's Hamburger buns but I don't have potato flakes or know where to get them. And then while searching thru my del.icio.us files, I found it; the perfect recipe to try - the recipe that started the whole Daring Bakers group - the Pretzel Recipe!
The ingredients were all in my cupboard so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I used my stand mixer and followed the directions. My dough was quite stiff, not "quite slack" as the recipe stated. I tried adding some more water, but that didn't go well. I could feel my enthusiasm fading; this was going to end up like all the other times I failed at bread making. I left the dough to rise for 30 minutes, and when I came back it looked exactly the same as it had when I left the room. I gave it an additional 30 minutes, but not much happened.
I did not have a good feeling about this.
I divided the dough into 8, rolled the first piece out into a rope and formed a pretzel. After dunking the pretzel in the water/baking soda mixture I looked at what I had just made.
Umm. That's a bow, not a pretzel. I had to go turn the computer back on and Google pretzels to see what shape they were supposed to be. Hi, I am a dork.
Once I got the shapeless crappy perfect and the pretzels dunked in the water/soda I sprinkled 4 of them with coarse salt and 4 with garlic salt.
Almost pretty!
I gotta say, even with the stiff dough and the no rising, these suckers were amazing. And so easy, I could not believe it. I did forget to brush them with butter when they were done, only because I was so excited that they turned out OK. I don't think they were lacking in any way though. When I make these again, I'm going to top some with rosemary and garlic, maybe some with cheese and garlic. If you've got a couple of hours to kill and you want to spend some time in the kitchen, this recipe is a perfect choice.
Recipe: Hot Buttered Pretzels.
del.icio.us recipe update - as of today - 201 recipes!
After my recent foccacia success , I was just itching to get in the kitchen again and continue my winning bread-product-baking streak. I flipped through my handful of remaining cookbooks (most are already in BC) for a relatively easy bread or bun recipe, but came up with nothing. I checked out the Internet. Google gave me nothing. I really wanted to try Mary's Hamburger buns but I don't have potato flakes or know where to get them. And then while searching thru my del.icio.us files, I found it; the perfect recipe to try - the recipe that started the whole Daring Bakers group - the Pretzel Recipe!
The ingredients were all in my cupboard so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I used my stand mixer and followed the directions. My dough was quite stiff, not "quite slack" as the recipe stated. I tried adding some more water, but that didn't go well. I could feel my enthusiasm fading; this was going to end up like all the other times I failed at bread making. I left the dough to rise for 30 minutes, and when I came back it looked exactly the same as it had when I left the room. I gave it an additional 30 minutes, but not much happened.
I did not have a good feeling about this.
I divided the dough into 8, rolled the first piece out into a rope and formed a pretzel. After dunking the pretzel in the water/baking soda mixture I looked at what I had just made.
Umm. That's a bow, not a pretzel. I had to go turn the computer back on and Google pretzels to see what shape they were supposed to be. Hi, I am a dork.
Once I got the shape
Almost pretty!
I gotta say, even with the stiff dough and the no rising, these suckers were amazing. And so easy, I could not believe it. I did forget to brush them with butter when they were done, only because I was so excited that they turned out OK. I don't think they were lacking in any way though. When I make these again, I'm going to top some with rosemary and garlic, maybe some with cheese and garlic. If you've got a couple of hours to kill and you want to spend some time in the kitchen, this recipe is a perfect choice.Recipe: Hot Buttered Pretzels.
del.icio.us recipe update - as of today - 201 recipes!
14 comments:
Oh Wow! Those are really beautiful! That might be totally fun and I love your salting ideas and spices.
Ooh, I love homemade soft pretzels. I just may have to try making some myself...with lots of salt, naturally.
Mmm, fresh hot pretzels!
Great job Sara!! I've got the DB Pretzel on my baking list for next week!
BTW, potato flakes are the same as instant mashed potatoes. So, you can use those in the hamburger bun recipe. Or substitute 1/8 cup of mashed potatoes and eliminate 1 oz (1/8 cup) of water from the recipe.
I've been wanting to try this recipe!! And I love the idea of a del.icio.us recipe of the week! I have so many recipes saved on mine - this might help me to actually make it through some of them...
wow, pretzels sound amazing! we ate a lot of pretzels in germany and i'd love to recreate them here. oh hey, where in bc did you move to?
Tanna - they were so easy and delicious.
Judy - salt alone is the best topping on a soft pretzel I think, but it's always fun to experiment.
Peabody - Posting this has made we want to make another batch.
Mary - thanks for the info on the potato flakes. Look forward to seeing what you top your pretzels with!
Deborah - it's a great recipe. Delicious recipe of the week has actually made my stash grow bigger, not smaller!
KP - hope you try this recipe, I think you'll like it. We've moved to Kamloops.
This is the only challenge I haven't undertaken yet, but I will, one day...
The pretzels look pretty good. They sound like they would be kind of fun to make.
Your bow pretzels are prettier than my noose pretzels. We can be doofuses (doofi?) together. :)
Bri - I can only imagine how kick ass your pretzels would be.
Kevin - fun and easy!
Dolores - I think I am already a doofus. The first time I read that I thought you wrote NOSE pretzels.
These sound really good, and it looks like you were very successful - kudos.
Oooh yummy! I love making soft pretzels. I like making some into mini-sticks and then dipping them into pizza sauce.
Yummy!!! Love pretzels, never made them, I will give this a try!
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